The Truth About Ugly Foods: They’re Delicious, Abundant And Good For The Planet

Tim Wharton bristles at being called a “foodie,” with its connotation of lush, sumptuous “food porn.” He prefers “gastronaut,” a label popularized by late British television chef Keith Floyd, for its evocation of intrepid culinary exploration. Wharton’s provocative new book Ugly Food: Overlooked and Undercooked, written with fellow gourmet Richard Horsey, is a celebration of…

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Maamoul: An Ancient Cookie That Ushers In Easter And Eid In The Middle East

Be it Easter or Eid, holidays in the Levantine region of the Middle East are incomplete without a shortbread cookie called maamoul. Stuffed with date paste or chopped walnuts or pistachios, and dusted with powdered sugar, these buttery cookies are the perfect reward after a month of fasting during Ramadan or Lent. The dough is…

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Broth-Loving Hipsters Are Pushing Up The Price Of Bones

Bone broth cartoon

Dear dogs of America — sorry about bone broth. Since this well-marketed take on an ancient beverage started sweeping hip enclaves like New York, Austin and Los Angeles a few years ago, it’s getting harder to find cheap bones. Unlike many food fads, bone broth seems to be here for the long simmer. As more…

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Duncan Hines: The Original Road Warrior Who Shaped Restaurant History

Duncan Hines, traveling salesman and future purveyor of boxed cake mix, considered himself an authority on a great many things: hot coffee, Kentucky country-cured ham and how to locate a tasty restaurant meal, in 1935, for under a dollar and a quarter. By the 1950s, Hines’ name would be plastered on boxes of cake mix;…

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